Hyväksymispäivämäärä

Tiivistelmä

Eye gaze plays an important role in social interaction. Eye gaze direction provides a cue of what may be in the other person s mind. According to recent studies in adults, the perceived gaze direction of another person influences the observer s neural affective-motivational responses of approach and avoidance. The aim of this study was to examine whether seeing direct versus averted gaze influences affective-motivational neural responses in children and whether it would make a difference to these responses if children viewed the face of a human or a dummy. Two age groups (5- and 7-year-olds) were compared to examine the effect of age on these neural responses. Possible differences in the amount of animistic thinking exhibited between the age groups were expected to affect the neural responses.

It is a widely held view that approach-related motivation enhances relative left-sided frontal EEG activity, whereas avoidance-related motivation enhances relative right-sided frontal EEG activity. Based on earlier studies in adults, it was expected that the perceived direct gaze of a human would elicit left-sided frontal EEG asymmetry (indicative of approach-related motivation) and the perceived averted gaze of a human would elicit smaller left-sided frontal EEG asymmetry or right-sided frontal EEG asymmetry (indicative of avoidance-related motivation) in both 5- and 7-year-olds. Research suggests that especially young children may have difficulty distinguishing living entities from the non-living. Children may attribute human properties to inanimate agents, which is referred to as animistic thinking. In the present study, it was expected the 5-year-olds would likely exhibit animistic thinking regarding the dummy and that the perceived gaze direction of the human and the dummy would therefore elicit similar neural responses. Studies indicate that animistic thinking decreases during the preschool years, and it was expected that only the perceived gaze direction of the human would influence the neural approach-avoidance responses in the 7-year-olds. In the experiment, power in the alpha band from the left and right frontal channels (F4/F3 and F8/F7) was measured with EEG. Several alpha bands were tested in the analyses to ensure the capturing of the alpha band applicable to children (6-9 Hz, 6-12 Hz, 8-13 Hz). An animism questionnaire was presented to the children to examine whether animistic thinking regarding the dummy would be exhibited. Subjective ratings of valence were inquired from the children to examine how they felt when watching the stimuli.

Results were contrary to expectations. The study did not provide evidence of perceived gaze direction of animate and inanimate models affecting frontal EEG asymmetry as hypothesized in children of either age group. The children in both age groups exhibited animistic thinking regarding the dummy, but there was no difference found in the amount of animistic thinking between age groups. Valence ratings indicated that watching both models and gaze directions was fairly pleasant.

Many factors may have contributed to the results of this study. Studies suggest that the mental and neural processing of gaze direction develops with age. The development of these processes in the studied age groups may be at a stage where gaze direction does not yet activate the affective-motivational neural systems efficiently. It is also unclear to what extent methodological issues may have contributed to the results of this study. Longitudinal research should be executed to provide more information regarding the effect of gaze direction on frontal EEG asymmetry during development, taking contributing individual factors into account.